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Creationism's Trojan horse : the wedge of intelligent design

"In Creationism's Trojan Horse, Forrest and Gross document the agenda and advances of "Intelligent Design," the most recent manifestation of American science education's perennial affliction: creationism. Explaining and analyzing what "design theorists" call their "Wedge Strategy"--An attempt to substitute "theistic science" for natural science in the public mind - this book documents the Wedge's aggressive, decade-long public relations campaign to implement the strategy. The most notable feature of its purportedly new scientific paradigm is the failure of its creators to produce either a scientific research program or any original scientific data to support their claims. Instead, the design movement maintains a crowded schedule of popular publications for its mostly conservative Christian constituency, lectures, and media appearances - sustained by lucrative funding from religious benefactors. The Wedge has intruded itself successfully into educational politics at the local, state, and now national levels."--Jacket.Read more...

How the wedge began --
The wedge document: a design for design --
Searching for the science --
Paleontology lite and Copernican discoveries --
A conspiracy hunter and a Newton --
Everything except science I --
Everything except science II --
Wedging into power politics --
Religion first --
and last.

Abstract:

Forrest and Gross expose the scientific failure, the religious essence, and the political ambitions of r stelligent design" creationism highlighting its threat to public education and to the separation of church and state.Read more...

Reviews

Editorial reviews

Publisher Synopsis

This is the definitive work on modern creationism, an exhaustively detailed and compelling exposure of the attempt-by the well-known process in nature called by biologists "aggressive mimicry"-to corrupt science in the service of sectarian religion. In the process, the book explores the larger and seemingly endless struggle between religion-based tribal values and science-based universal values. Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor, Emeritus, Harvard University. Creationism's Trojan Horse documents the disturbing movement to sneak religious dogma back into science education, driven by the vague fear that Americans can't handle the truth. Educators, scientists, and politicians would do well to understand this movement and its tactics, and this book is a superb and timely analysis. Steven Pinker, Johnston Professor, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate Intelligent Design 'theory' (ID) has been well described as Creationism in a cheap Tuxedo. One if its luminaries, we are told, has 'angrily denied that ID is stealth creationism.' He is right. There's no stealth about it. It is Creationism. Unfortunately, ID 'theorists' have a streetwise political professionalism to outweigh the amateurishness of their science, and we therefore cannot ignore them. Barbara Forrest and Paul Gross meticulously document their pretensions, destroy their arguments, and expose their true motivation. An excellent and sadly necessary book. Richard Dawkins. author of The Selfish Gene.Read more...

""In Creationism's Trojan Horse, Forrest and Gross document the agenda and advances of "Intelligent Design," the most recent manifestation of American science education's perennial affliction: creationism. Explaining and analyzing what "design theorists" call their "Wedge Strategy"--An attempt to substitute "theistic science" for natural science in the public mind - this book documents the Wedge's aggressive, decade-long public relations campaign to implement the strategy. The most notable feature of its purportedly new scientific paradigm is the failure of its creators to produce either a scientific research program or any original scientific data to support their claims. Instead, the design movement maintains a crowded schedule of popular publications for its mostly conservative Christian constituency, lectures, and media appearances - sustained by lucrative funding from religious benefactors. The Wedge has intruded itself successfully into educational politics at the local, state, and now national levels."--Jacket."